Carrier for pneumatic-tube systems



May 14, 1929. E. WEIGELE 3 CARRIER FOR PNEUMATIC TUBE SYSTEMS Filed May 11, 1926 I ooooooo 7 0000000 B l o." A

".a /C' U Patented May 14, 1929.

UNITED STATES threat 'A'ltur OFFICE. f

EDMUND 'wnIeELn, on nunennninnn, nnw annsirr, hesitation. re s. & G. ATLAS SYSTEMS,.INC., or NEW 71031:, N. Y., A CORPORATION or NEW Yonx.

CARRIER FOR PNEUMATIC-TUBE SYSTEMS.

Application filed m 11,

This invention relates to carriersfor pneu matic tubesystenis; and particularly to can rivers which are intended for use in connectionwith credit sales in department stores and thelilre. It is understood, however, that theinvention is not limited to any particular use that may be made of the novel carrier; i

When carriers are employed in connection with credit sales it is ordinarily their function to carry a memorandum of the sale or the proposed sale, to an authorizer who verifies the purchasers account. In a large store there are usually a number of authorizers, each one of whom has in her charge the lists ofcredlt customers cover-- ing names beginning with certain. letters of the alphabet. For example one authorizer may have the lists of names beginning with the letters A, B; C, another withthe letters I), E, F; etc. When these carriers with their contentsare received-at the main authorizers desk itis necessaryfo'r her: to open them and inspect the contents in order to determine to which authorizer it should go for verification. This, of course, consumes considerable tinaeand effort. Theobject of my invention is to provide acarrier intended primarily for credit use, which embodies means enabling one to determinefrom; looking at its exterior andwithout openingit, the initialof thenaine of the customer which appears on them-edit slip contained in it. The manner in which I accomplish this object and .the numerousi advantages of my invention will be setforth more fully hereinafter. a a y lnthedrawing Fig. 1 represents indiagrammatic fashion, a typical tube room installation in so far as it relates tot-he handling of credit slips; Fig. 2 is a side elevation ot'l my improved carrier, showing the means for; identifying the initial of :the name; onithe slip within; Fig.- 3 is a view of the same carrier partly in section, taken at a different angle; Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view a of my improved*carrier taken 4 on-the line 4l-4- of Fig 3, the carrierbeing closed as shown in these figures; Fig. 5 is atransversesectionalkview similar to Fig. 4: but showing the carrier open and Fig.6 is aview similarto Fig 2 but showing the carrier in which the initial identifying -1ll6i1I1S-W0f a slightly different character. Inthe Canton. Patent No. 1,505,542, Aug.

- cash or credit.

. actions are considerably delayed.

1926. Serial No; 108,243.

it that it is a credit carrier and not a cash carrier. My invention may, it desirech be i applied to such a carrier, although, because of the difference in appearance and in outer contour inherent in my improved carrieryll do not-think it necessary to einploy protuberances, such as shown in the Canton patent.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, A. indicates the delivery station where the carriers from the sales clerks are received in the tube rooin. These carriers may be either The person (or persons) on duty at this delivery station distributes the cash earners in any convenient manner to the operators who make change and dispatch the credit carriers over to the credit authorizefls station This may be done-by means of a pneumatic tube as indicated in the drawing, or by a belt, or in any other desired manner. The personin charge of the main authorizefis stationthen distributes the carriers received there to theindividual authorizers in accordance withithe initial of the customers name. The individual authorizers, after verifyingtheiaccount, then return thecarriers to the main authorizers desk, whence they are sent back to the dispatchers desk C. From herethey are dispatched back to the sales clerkswho sent them. a e

It is obvious that if the person in charge of the main authorizefis deskiB is compelled to open each carrier in order to determine the initial'ot the customers name, the trans- As I have said, I provide means by the use of which the customersinitial can be ascertained without opening the carrier or disturbing its contents in any way. ,1 shall now proceed to describe my carrier. e y

.As is well known, carriers of the character in which I am interested ordinarily C0111- prise two cylindrical shells such as indicated in thedrawing at 11. 12, one of which is within the other. These two shells may be rotated relatively. and to facilitate the rotation one of the end flanges, as for: example 13, is secured to the outer shell 11 and.

the other one 14 tothe inner shell 12. I Each of these shells has an oblong opening in it, the opening in the shell 11 being designated in the drawing by the number and the onelin the inner'shcll bythe number 16.

To open the carrier for the insertion or removal of the contents the two shells are moved relatively until the two openings 15, 16, are inregi ster, as indicated for example in Fig. 5. To close the carrier the shells are rotated relatively until the two openfings are entirely out of register, as shown for example in Fig. 4 and also in Figs. 2, 3

and 6.

The carrier so far described is the usual form of carrier. In applying my invention tothis carrier I,- in effect, flatten down a portion of that part of the inner shell 12 which is exposed through the opening 15 in the outer shell when the carrieris closed.

The result is as shown, for example, in Fig.

4, where this part of the inner shell is repre- "sented in cross section by a chord 17 instead of an are. For convenience I shall call the flat' part 17 of the inner shell a chordal plate.

"Uponthis chordal plate I mount some suitl with initials I also-pre able form of initial designator; As shown in Figs. 2-5 this consists of a disk 18 which is rotatable but normally held in position by some such means as the spring 19, and a pointer. 20 which is affixed to the plate 17. The disk-'18'is preferably divided up into the desired'numberof sectors and upon all the various sectorsare placed initials corresponding to the lists of the several authorizers. In addition to roviding each sector erably color each one with a distinguishing color. Forexample, the-A, B, Gsector may be red, the D, E, F

sector yellow, etc. The purpose of employ ing the colors in addition to the-initials is that'to some operators the colors may pro- 'vide a more rapid means of distinguishing than-the letters.

' The carrier of Fig. 6 is similar to the carrier'above described except that the let- -ters and colors appear on the chordal plate 17 instead of on the disk18, and the pointer 20 appears 'on'the disk instead of on the plate.

The intended method of use of this carrier is as' -followsr'lhtr sales clerk'who is mak ng a credit sale picks up one of these credit carriers and after opening it to the "position of Fig. 5 inserts into it the credit j slip; She then closes the carrier to the po- 'sition shown in Fig. 4 and having noted the name of the customer adjusts the disk 18 to conform to the initial of the customers name. She then dispatches the carrier to the tube room where in turn it is sent to the main 'aut-horizers desk. The operator there,

without opening it,'determines fromlooking at the disk to which of the individual authorizers .it should go and immediately delivers it to that authorizer. From this point on the carrier is treated in the manner usual forcredit carriers.

As appears from the above description the means which I have provided for informing the main authorizer of the initial of the customer are simple to construct and positive in operation. By being placed on a chordal plate they are protected against all injury which might occur from the usual treatment accorded to devices of this kind. Also, they add greatly to the efiiciency of handling credit slips.

M invention is not limited to the particular onus of designating disk illustrated in the drawing, but is intended to cover the use of any initial designating means located on a chordal plate formed on the inner shell of the carrier.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the use of such terms and description, of excluding an equivalent of the features shown and escribed, orportions 7 thereof, but recognize that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

What I claim is:

; 1. A carrier for pneumatic tube system comprising an outer cylindrical shell and an inner cylindrical shell, each provided with an opening therethrough, said shells being rotatable relatively to each other for moving said openings into and out of register to open and close said carrier, said inner shell being provided with an indicator adjustable to different positions to give difl'erent indications and so located as to be e sed through the openin in the outer shell when said carrier is close 2. A carrier for pneumatic tube systems, comprising an outer cylindrical shell and an inner cylindrical shell, each rovided with an opening therethrough, sai shells being rotatable relatively to each other for moving said openings into and out of register to open and close said carrier, said inner shell being provided with adjustable indicati means, so located as to be exposed thro through the opening in the outer shell when said carrier is closed, said indicating means including a dial marked in different colors, and. a pointer cooperating with said dial and movable relatively thereto.

4-. A carrier for pneumatic tube systems comprising an outer cylindrical shell and an inner cylindrical shell, each provided with an opening therethrough, said shells 

